Cord wrap and power plug receptacle arrangement for inflator

ABSTRACT

A temporary mobility kit to minimize or prevent the inadvertent outflow of tire sealant is provided. The temporary mobility kit includes a switch-inflator assembly and a removable sealant assembly. The switch-inflator assembly includes a pump motor and an electrical plug assembly having a cord portion and a plug. The plug is adapted for use in the vehicle&#39;s power unit. The housing includes a peripheral channel about which the cord portion of the electrical plug assembly is wrapped when the electrical plug assembly is not in use. A plug-receiving aperture is provided to receive and retain the plug when not in use.

TECHNICAL FIELD

The present invention relates generally to portable inflator units forvehicle tires. More particularly, the present invention relates to acord wrap and power plug receptacle arrangement for a portable inflatorunit for inflating a vehicle tire.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Automotive manufacturers have traditionally offered spare tires with thefleet of vehicles they produce. In the early days of automobiles thespare tire was mounted externally on either the running board or on arear-mounted tire carrier. To comply with advances in styling the sparetire was concealed, most typically being moved inside the vehicle'strunk. While this arrangement provided a suitable solution for placementof the spare tire for decades, the demand for increased space forluggage and the like coupled with changes in fuel economy requirementsdictating the need for vehicle weight reduction forced manufacturers toconsider the vehicle anew in its entirety as they sought ways toincrease trunk space and reduce vehicle weight. One answer to the effortto reduce overall vehicle weight was to replace the conventional, largeand bulky road tire with a smaller temporary tire or “donut.”

While the temporary tire represented a significant increase in trunkspace as well as a decrease in overall vehicle weight, the furtherimprovement in tire design and durability as well as the concurrentgeneral improvement in roadways has gradually begun to reduce the needfor relying on a spare tire at all. Today the on-the-road emergencychanging of a tire is a relatively rare event. It is now very possiblefor a spare tire to last the life of the vehicle without ever beingreplaced, although this is certainly not the preferred practice.

In response to these advances in both tire technology and road quality,vehicle auto manufacturers have begun to substitute a “temporarymobility kit” (or “TMK”) for the spare tire. The TMK includes adual-purpose air compressor and a sealing system. The sealing systemincludes a sealing compound that will effectively seal most puncturescaused by nails or similar objects. The air compressor drives thesealing compound into the compromised tire and, subsequently, can beused to reinflate the tire once the sealing compound has been introducedinto the tire and the leak has been sealed. The growing trend today isfor manufacturers to equip the vehicle with a temporary mobility kit inlieu of the spare tire, often locating the TMK in the spare tire well inthe trunk.

One of the difficulties of known temporary mobility kits is theinconvenience and impracticality of arrangements for storing the cordand for maintaining the plug in a convenient place when the unit is notin use. Today it is known to provide a space in which both the cord andthe power plug can be inserted or a space for the power plug alone.Typically these spaces are very small and work well only when thetemporary mobility kit is new from the factory and has not yet beenused. Once the TMK has been used, it is challenging for the average userto refit the cord and the plug into the small space.

While providing clear advantages over the weight demands of the sparetire as well as providing the vehicle operator with a practicalalternative over the demands of tire changing, as in most every area ofvehicle technology temporary mobility kits are in a continuing state ofdevelopment.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The present invention provides a temporary mobility kit having aconvenient and practical way of readily storing both the power cord andthe power plug between uses. The temporary mobility kit disclosed hereinincludes a switch-inflator assembly and an interchangeable sealantassembly. The interchangeable sealant assembly includes a canister whichcan be replaced once used. The switch-inflator assembly has an housing.The power plug is attached to the power cord and the power cored isattached to the switch-inflator assembly. A peripheral powercord-accommodating channel and a power plug-accommodating hole areformed in the upper portion of the housing of the switch-inflatorassembly. The power cord is stored in the power cord-accommodatingchannel and the power plug is stored in the power plug-accommodatinghole during periods of non-use.

To use the power cord and the associated power plug of the temporarymobility kit the power plug is withdrawn from the plug-accommodatinghole and the cord is removed from cord-accommodating channel byunwrapping. After use of the temporary mobility kit the user can readilywrap the cord into the cord-accommodating channel followed by theinsertion of the power plug into the plug-accommodating hole. With thepower plug fitted to the plug-accommodating hole an amount of tension isapplied to the power cord such that the power cord is retained in thecord-accommodating channel without becoming loose.

Other features of the invention will become apparent when viewed inlight of the detailed description of the preferred embodiment when takenin conjunction with the attached drawings and the appended claims.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

For a more complete understanding of this invention, reference shouldnow be made to the embodiment illustrated in greater detail in theaccompanying drawings and described below by way of examples of theinvention wherein:

FIG. 1 illustrates a perspective view of the temporary mobility kit ofthe disclosed invention showing the power cord and the power plug intheir stored conditions;

FIG. 2 is a side view of the temporary mobility kit of FIG. 1 alsoshowing the power cord and the power plug in their stored conditions;

FIG. 3 is a close-up view of the upper portion of the switch-inflatorassembly in which the peripheral cord-accommodating channel and theplug-accommodating hole of the temporary mobility kit are illustrated;and

FIG. 4 is a top view of the temporary mobility kit illustratingparticularly the plug-accommodating hole shown in broken lines.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT

In the following figures, the same reference numerals will be used torefer to the same components. In the following description, variousoperating parameters and components are described for one constructedembodiment. These specific parameters and components are included asexamples and are not meant to be limiting.

Referring to the drawings and in particular to FIGS. 1 and 2, aperspective view and a side view of a temporary mobility kit, generallyillustrated as 10, are respectively shown. The temporary mobility kit 10includes a switch-inflator assembly 12 and a sealant assembly 14. Whilepreferably being a one-piece part, the switch-inflator assembly 12includes an upper portion 16 and a lower portion 18.

The temporary mobility kit 10 includes an electrical plug assembly 20having a cord portion 22 and a plug 24. The plug 24 is adapted for usein the vehicle's power unit (not shown). Formed between the upperportion 16 and the lower portion 18 is a peripheral channel 26 aboutwhich the cord portion 22 of the electrical plug assembly 24 is wrappedwhen the electrical plug assembly 24 is not in use. A plug-receivingaperture 28 is provided to receive and retain the plug 24 when thetemporary mobility kit 10 is not in use. The peripheral channel 26 andthe plug-receiving aperture 28 are more clearly seen in FIG. 3. Theplug-receiving aperture 28 is shown in partial broken lines in FIG. 4 inwhich it is clearly seen that the aperture 28 for the plug 26 is definedin the housing in a transverse, cross-wise manner. Other arrangementsfor the aperture 28 are possible, and the illustrated transversearrangement is suggested and is not intended to be limiting.

As illustrated in FIGS. 1, 2 and 3, a gap 29 is defined between theupper portion 16 and the sealant assembly 14. The gap 29 allows the cordportion 22 to be wrapped in the peripheral channel 26.

A pair of opposed recessed areas defined by a first recessed area 30 anda second recessed area 30′ is defined on the opposite sides of the upperarea 16 of the switch-inflator assembly 12. The opposed recessed areas30 and 30′ are provided to allow for the user to readily grasp and liftthe temporary mobility kit 10. As illustrated in FIG. 4, theplug-receiving aperture 24 is preferably continuous between the firstrecessed area 30 and the second recessed area 30′.

The switch-inflator assembly 12 also includes a diverter switch 34, apower-on, power-off button 36, and an air pressure gauge 38. Thepower-on, power-off button 36 may be of a variety of types but ispreferably a momentary switch. Placement of these components as setforth is only suggestive and is not to be taken as being limiting.However, with each of these components being positioned on the top ofthe switch-inflator assembly 12 they are within easy reach of the userand also provide an easy view of the operating condition of thetemporary mobility kit 10 in its relation to the tire.

The diverter switch 34 includes a knob 40. The diverter switch 34 mayalso be characterized as a function switch. The diverter switch 34provides the temporary mobility kit 10 with a way of allowing the userto select between the sealant function and the air inflation function.The selection arrangement presented herein allows only one function tobe enabled at a time. The knob 40 may be rotated between an airinflation position and a sealant function position.

The power-on, power-off button 36 operates to engage or disengage thetemporary mobility kit 10. The air pressure gauge 38 provides the userwith information as to the amount of air pressure in the subject tire inreal time.

While the invention has been described in connection with one or moreembodiments, it is to be understood that the specific mechanisms andtechniques which have been described are merely illustrative of theprinciples of the invention, numerous modifications may be made to themethods and apparatus described without departing from the spirit andscope of the invention as defined by the appended claims.

1-20. (canceled)
 21. A portable apparatus for sealing and inflating atire, the apparatus comprising: a switch-inflator assembly having anupper portion and a lower portion; a sealant portion releasably attachedto the switch-inflator assembly; a peripheral channel defined betweenthe upper portion and the lower portion of the switch-inflator assembly;a cord passage gap defined between the sealant portion and theswitch-inflator assembly, the cord passage gap adjoining the peripheralchannel where the peripheral channel faces the sealant portion; and acord and plug assembly connected to the switch-inflator assembly,wherein the cord and plug assembly is wrapped around the switch-inflatorassembly by passage of the cord and plug assembly through the cordpassage gap to the peripheral channel.
 22. The portable apparatus ofclaim 21, further including a plug-receiving recess formed in theswitch-inflator assembly.
 23. The portable apparatus of claim 21,wherein the upper portion includes handle-defining recessed regions. 24.The portable apparatus of claim 23, wherein the plug-receiving recess isformed between the handle-defining recessed regions.
 25. The portableapparatus of claim 21, wherein the sealant portion comprises a canister.26. A temporary mobility kit configured to seal and fill a tire, thetemporary mobility kit comprising: a sealant portion; a switch-inflatorassembly connected to the sealant portion, the switch-inflator assemblycomprising a housing, an inflator pump, and a cord assembly including acord and a plug, the housing comprising a recess for accommodating theplug and a channel surrounding the housing and accommodating the cord sothat the cord can be stored in the channel, wherein a proximal end ofthe cord assembly is attached to the housing in or adjacent to thechannel and the cord is stored in the channel by being wound around thehousing and through a gap defined between the sealant portion and theswitch-inflator assembly.
 27. The temporary mobility kit of claim 26,wherein the housing has an upper portion and a lower portion, and thechannel is formed between the upper portion and the lower portion. 28.The temporary mobility kit of claim 27, wherein the upper portionincludes handle-defining recessed regions.
 29. The temporary mobilitykit of claim 28, wherein a recess for accommodating the plug is formedbetween the handle-defining recessed regions.
 30. The temporary mobilitykit of claim 26, wherein the sealant portion is removably attached tothe switch-inflator assembly.
 31. The temporary mobility kit of claim26, wherein the sealant portion is spaced apart from the upper portionof the housing to define the gap through which the cord can pass to bewound around the housing.
 32. The temporary mobility kit of claim 26,wherein the sealant portion comprises a canister.
 33. The temporarymobility kit of claim 26, wherein the gap adjoins the channel where thechannel faces the sealant portion.
 34. A method for storing a portabletire repair apparatus comprising a power cord assembly and a sealantportion removably attached to a switch-inflator assembly, theswitch-inflator assembly including a housing having a plug recess and aperipheral channel surrounding the housing, the method comprising:winding the power cord assembly through a gap defined between thesealant portion and the switch-inflator assembly and into the peripheralchannel; and inserting a plug of the power cord assembly into the plugrecess.
 35. The method of claim 34, wherein the housing compriseshandle-defining recessed regions and the method comprises moving theportable tire repair apparatus by grasping the handle-defining recessedregions.
 36. The method of claim 35, wherein the plug recess is formedbetween the handle-defining recessed regions.
 37. The method of claim34, wherein the sealant portion is spaced apart from the upper portionof the housing to define the gap.
 38. The method of claim 34, whereinthe sealant portion comprises a canister.